Switch assemblage



Nov. 22, 1938. w. c. F'URNAS ET AL I 2,137,481

SWITCH ASSEMBLAGE Original Filed July 12, 1937 IN VENTOR5 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 22, 1933 William G, Furnas, West Allis, and Sigurd R. Thompson, Milwaukee, Wis; said Thompspn assignor'to said Furnas, doing business under the name and style of FurnasElectric Qo'mpany .(lriginal application July 12, 1937, Serial No.

153,152, now Patent No. 2,108,883 dated February 22, 1938. Divided and thisfa'pp'lication December 1, 1937, Serial No. 171,588

8 Claims.

hc rcs ptiuv nticn. e a s. in en ral o p ovement nt ic rt 0.? manuf c r n e e t ca cntrol ncchan sms. and relate more speci ca y to..i. u. ......ment n. th Qnst iuction. and O eration. switch assembla s and to t e statiQnar co tact. m unti s. for su h ass m lages. Generally defined. an object of our invention to. provide. animproved stationary. n act mountin snitch a sembla-ces.v which is s leand compact n onstruction, and which. is also highly; efilcient. and well protected. when in use.

A more pecific- Objectof our invention is the provisionof an. improved support for the nor.- mally fixed contacts of; a switch assemblage, and a new mode of, mounting. such. supports in the fr me... s ructure of the. switch.

==AI.1.. additional. specific object of our. inventio S QDroYide. a new anduseful controller for electrical apparatus, whi'chmay be manufactured and soldat. moderate costv and which is. extreme- 1y durable and, presents. a neat appearance.

The. above and other specific objects of our inyention will be apparent from the following detailed descriDtiDn, and this. application is a division. of; our cmpending. application Serial Number 153,152, filed July. 12, 1937, which has maturedto Batent No. 2,108,883, dated February 22., 1938. v

A. lear conception of: embodiments of the features. constituting thepresent improvement, and

oi the. mode of constructing and of operating switchassemblages builtin accordance with our nycntion, may be-had by referring to the drawing-accompanying. and forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designatev the. same or. similar. parts in the various views. 1

Fig. 1. is. a. central longitudinal vertical section through one. of our improved switch assemblages with the closure. coverfin place and showing the along the line 5 5 of Fig. 1, and showing the fixed contact supports fully assembled.

While our invention has been shown herein as having been embodied in a particular type of switch mechanism especially adapted to control automobilelifts, it is not our intent to thereby unnecessarily restrict the. scope; and while certain sections have been referred to as having been taken along verticaland. horizontal lines, it will be obvious that the switch assemblage may be disposed in any desired position other than asshown.

Referring to the drawing, the improved switch assemblage comprises in general a frame having a base. composed. of upper and lower base plates 9, It respectively, the upper of which is provided with integral upwardly projecting end Walls ll, l2, and the lower of which has integral upwardly extending side flanges l3 spaced from theopposite side edges of the end walls; a pair of laterally spaced fixed contact bars or supports. {4, l5. mounted in the end walls ll, l2. and carrying the. f xed contacts I6; an oscillatory movable. contact carrying spindle ll. journalled in the. end walls I l, l2 between the fixed contacts I.6 and providing a support for a series of movable contacts. IB l9. which are cooperable with the fixed contacts t6; and a removable U-shaped cover 29 formed for cooperation with the end walls I 1, l2 and with the flangesv 3 to completely enclose. the. switch. mechanism.

The upper base plate 9 and the end walls ll, [.2 may beformed of a single piece of sheet metal, and the walls. l l, l2 may bev retained in substan tially. parallel position by means of a top bar 2i rigidly connecting the upper ends thereof. The upper. and lower base plates. 9 It may be firmly united by spot welding or otherwise; and the end walls I I lZare provided with alined rectangular slots or openings 22, 23 respectively, all of which are of these-me height, but of which the openings 22 are somewhat wider than the openings 23. The end Wall H is-also provided with openings 24 for. the electrical conductors and with a journal opening for the. reduced end cf the spindle ll; and both of the end walls I l, !2 are reenforced by outer, plates 2 ,5 attached thereto by bolts or screws 26.. The spindle H is direcily journalled in the end walls ll, I25 and plates 25., and these plates are somewhat larger than the end walls ll, l2.

The lower contact bars or supports l4, [5 are formed of insulating material and are adapted to be mounted in the end walls ll, E2 of the main frame in the manner shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

Each of these bars or supports I 4, I5 may have uniform rectangular cross-sectional area substantially equal to that of the openings 23 in the end wall I2 but of slightly less width than the openings 22 in the opposite end wall I I. The contacts I6 are suspended from the bar supports I4, I5 by resilient conductor arms 21 secured in place by terminal bolts 28 some of which may be joined by a conductor plate 29, and to which the electrical conductors may be attached by means of nuts 30. After the fixed contacts have been attached to the supports I4, I 5, the latter may be assembled in the frame walls II, I2 by first inserting one end of each support I4, I5 through one of the larger openings 22 and by pushing or sliding the support through this opening sufficiently to permit swinging thereof into alinement with the corresponding opposite opening 23, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3. The alined end of the support I4, I5 may then be driven into the adjacent opening 23 as shown in Fig. 4, until it engages the outer plate 25, whereupon the opposite end of the bar will be flush with the outer surface of the end wall II. After both of the contact supports I4, I5 have been thus positioned in the openings 23, a U- shaped retainer plate 3! may be applied to the end wall II and within the openings 22 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 5, so as to finally lock the adjacent ends of both supports I4, I5 within the openings 22; and the ends of the plate 3| may either be bent into contact with the wall II as shown or they may be left in engagement with the outer sides of the supports I4, I5. When thus finally assembled, the supports I4, I5 will be disposed substantially parallel to each other and will be rigidly confined within the openings 22, 23 of both end walls -II, I2, and the reenforcing and sealing plate 25 may be finally applied to the end wall II as shown.

When the improved switch assemblage has been properly constructed as above described and connected into the electrical circuit, the movable contacts l8, I9 may be readily swung into engagement with the corresponding normally fixed contacts I6, by merely swinging the operating handle shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so as to rotate the spindle I 1. During such movement of the handle the coil spring at the handle end of the spindle, will be placed under tension so that upon release of the actuating handle, this spring will quickly return to normal position and will disengage the contacts I8, I9 from the fixed contacts I6. During oscillation of the movable contacts l8, I9 into position between the fixed contacts I6, the resilient arms 2'! will spread apart and will thereby insure tight closing of the switch.

By virtue of the fact that the major portions of the assemblage are all adapted to be formed of sheet metal with the aid of punches and dies, the assemblage may obviously be constructed and sold at moderate cost. The improved method of inserting the fixed contact supports I4, I5 in the manner shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, obviously facilitates assembly and produces a durable final structure wherein the fixed contacts are firmly supported. The single retainer plate 3| finally confines both of the supports I4, I5 in proper position relative to the end walls I I, I2, and this plate 3| may obviously be quickly applied, or removed if necessary. The end plates 25 obviously serve to finally confine the supports I4, I5 and the plate SI, and to prevent ingress of moisture through the openings 22, 23. The improved assemblage has proven highly successful in actual commercial use, and besides being readily manipulable and readily accessible for inspection, this assemblage may be manufactured at minimum cost and is extremely durable in construction.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction or to the precise mode of operation herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

We claim:-

1. In combination, a frame having end walls provided with openings, at contact support having one end snugly fitted within the opening in one of said walls and initially loosely fitted within the corresponding opening in the other of said walls, a retainer for snugly retaining the loosely fitted end of said support within its confining opening, and an outer plate coacting with said other wall and providing a seal for the opening with which said retainer coacts.

2. In combination, a frame having spaced end walls provided with sets of alined openings, a contact support cooperable with each of said sets, each support having one end snugly fitting one opening of the corresponding set and having its opposite end initially loosely confined within the other opening of said set, common means for finally snugly confining all of the loosely confined support ends within the adjacent openings, and a single outer plate coacting with the adjacent wall to seal all of the openings with which said common confining means coacts.

3. In combination, a frame having spaced end walls provided with sets of alined openings, 9, contact support cooperable with each of said sets, each support having one end snugly fitting one openng of the corresponding set and having its opposite end initially loosely confined within the other opening of said set, a common U-shaped retainer plate coacting with said walls and with said loosely confined support ends to positively prevent movement of the latter relative to said frame, and a single outer plate detachably secured to the adjacent wall to seal all of the openings with which said retainer plate coacts.

4. In combination, a frame having end walls provided with openings, a contact'support having one end snugly fitted within the opening in one of said walls and initially loosely fitted within the corresponding opening in the other of said walls, a retainer for snugly retaining the loosely fitted end of said support within its confining opening, and confining plates coacting with said walls and with the outer portions of said supports and said retainer to seal the adjacent openings.

5. In combination, a frame having spaced end walls provided with sets of alined openings, 9. contact support cooperable with each of said sets, each support having one end snugly fitting one opening of the corresponding set and having its opposite end initially loosely confined within the contact support cooperable with each of said sets,

each support having one end snugly fitting one opening of the corresponding set and having its opposite end initially loosely confined within the other opening of said set, a common U-shaped retainer plate coacting with said walls and with said loosely confined support ends to positively prevent movement of the latter relative to said frame, and outer plates coacting with said walls for sealing said openings and for confining said U-shaped retainer plate.

7. In combination, a frame having spaced end Walls provided with sets of alined openings, a contact support cooperable with each of said sets, each support having one end snugly fitting one opening of the corresponding set and having its opposite end initially loosely confined within the other opening of said set, a retainer plate coacting with all of said supports to prevent movement thereof relative to said frame, and outer confining plates for said retainer plate and for said supports coacting with said end walls.

8. In combination, a frame having spaced integrally united end Walls provided with alined socket openings, a contact support having 0pposite polygonal ends of approximately the same cross-sectional area, one of said ends snugly slidably fitting the socket formed by one of said openings and the other of said ends loosely initially fitting the other of said openings, a retainer for snugly confining said loosely fitted end within the adjacent enlarged opening, and detachable means secured to the adjacent Wall for completely sealing said enlarged opening and for holding said retainer in place.

WILLIAM C. FURNAS. SIGURD R. THOMPSON. 

